Cape Town - I can still understand the selection of Frans Steyn at flyhalf by Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber – although I don’t necessarily agree with it – but there was another choice for Saturday’s showdown against Argentina.
The injury to Damian Willemse and the unavailability of Elton Jantjies have put Nienaber in a corner, and he opted for the safety-first pick of the experienced Steyn in the No 10 jersey.
But with the Boks having to chase the game to win the Rugby Championship title – the All Blacks are surely going to topple the Wallabies with a bonus point at Eden Park earlier on Saturday – the more daring choice would have been Willie le Roux in the pivot position.
Le Roux wasn’t called ‘Quade Cooper’ for nothing when he starred for Boland at flyhalf all those years ago, and he certainly has the skill-set to light up the Bok backline at Kings Park.
The 33-year-old has a wonderful passing style, has enough pace to take on the defence, and an underrated kicking game. He may find it difficult to handle big loose forwards charging at him close to the ruck, but that can easily be fixed by moving him to wing or fullback if it becomes a serious problem.
The fresh-faced Steyn that commanded respect at the 2007 Rugby World Cup was a bundle of energy, but we know what we will get from the 35-year-old nowadays – solid defence, a booming boot and a strong ball-carrier. But he is not going to provide the finesse that Le Roux would as the chief playmaker – and it would have been worth the experiment at No 10 a year before the World Cup.
It was good to see Canan Moodie retained at right wing, as he has earned another start, especially as the returning Kurt-Lee Arendse hasn’t played for four weeks.
The other major call made by Nienaber was Pieter-Steph du Toit at blindside flank, with the coach stating “the energy and enthusiasm Pieter-Steph has been showing at training has also been great, and we know what he is capable of in this loose trio, so I am sure he will make an impact among the loose forwards”.
But there was little need to change what was working in the last two matches, which was Franco Mostert at No 7. The latter has offered real “energy and enthusiasm” against the Wallabies and Los Pumas in Sydney and Buenos Aires, while Du Toit has battled to get going since recovering from injury.
A case could also have been made for Kwagga Smith, who almost always makes an impact off the bench, and has done well when starting.
Talking about the bench, it was an unnecessary risk to go for a six-two split in favour of the forwards, particularly when there isn’t one fit flyhalf in the squad.
Nienaber said Faf de Klerk is the back-up pivot if anything happens to Steyn, but we’ve seen the World Cup ‘Bomb Squad’ plan go pear-shaped a few times this year when injuries have struck.
It’s not really necessary to have all three of Mostert, Duane Vermeulen and Smith among the reserves, with just De Klerk and Arendse covering the backline. Someone like Andre Esterhuizen would have been a valuable addition, as he covers the midfield and has even featured at flyhalf for his English club Harlequins.
@AshfakMohamed